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Monday, February 15, 2016

Vatican City, 15 February 2016 (VIS) –
After leaving the apostolic nunciature in Mexico City, the Pope
travelled by helicopter to Ecatepec to celebrate Holy Mass. It is the
first time that this satellite city has received a papal visit.

Ecatepec is located on a hill
approximately 28 kilometres from the capital, and is densely
populated, with more than a million and a half inhabitants who
commute daily to Mexico City to work. It was originally a city-state
governed by a chief closely related to the reigning dynasty of the
Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. Ecatepec was declared the Republic
of Indians in 1560, thus conserving a certain autonomy and
maintaining the succession of the leader. In the seventeenth century
it became a municipality under Spanish administration, and "de
Morelos" was added to its name in honour of the national hero
Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon, executed by the Spanish during the first
war of Mexican independence in 1819. In 1980 Ecatepec was declared a
city.

Francis celebrated Mass in the sports
area of the Ecatepec Study Centre, which is able to hold 400,000
people, and following the Gospel reading, which related the
temptations of Christ in the desert, he pronounced a homily in which
he emphasised that Lent is a good moment to recover the joy and hope
that make us feel we are beloved sons and daughters of the Father.
"The Father who waits for us in order to cast off our garments
of exhaustion, of apathy, of mistrust, and so clothe us with the
dignity which only a true father or mother knows how to give their
children, with the garments born of tenderness and love".

He is the Father of a great family, Who
knows that He has a unique love, but "does not know how to bear
or raise an 'only child'. He is the God of the home, of brotherhood,
of bread broken and shared. He is the God who is 'Our Father', not
'my father' or 'your stepfather'. God’s dream makes its home and
lives in each one of us so that at every Easter, in every Eucharist
we celebrate, we may be the children of God. It is a dream which so
many of our brothers and sisters have had through history. A dream
witnessed to by the blood of so many martyrs, both from long ago and
from now".

"Lent is a time of conversion, of
daily experiencing in our lives of how this dream is continually
threatened by the father of lies – and we hear in the Gospel how he
acted towards Jesus – by the one who tries to separate us, making a
divided and confrontational family; a society which is divided and at
loggerheads, a society of the few, and for the few. How often we
experience in our own lives, or in our own families, among our
friends or neighbours, the pain which arises when the dignity we
carry within is not recognised. How many times have we had to cry and
regret on realising that we have not acknowledged this dignity in
others. How often – and it pains me to say it – have we been
blind and impervious in failing to recognise our own and others’
dignity".

Lent, therefore, is also a time for
"reconsidering our feelings, for letting our eyes be opened to
the frequent injustices which stand in direct opposition to the dream
and the plan of God. It is a time to unmask three great temptations
that wear down and fracture the image which God wanted to form in
us".

The Pope went on to explain the meaning
of these three temptations of Christ, which are also "three
temptations for the Christian, which seek to destroy what we have
been called to be; three temptations which try to corrode us and
tear us down".

The first is wealth "seizing hold
of goods destined for all, and using them only for 'my own people'.
That is, taking the 'bread' based on the toil of others, or even at
the expense of their very lives. That wealth which tastes of pain,
bitterness and suffering. That is the bread that a corrupt family or
society gives its own children. The second temptation, vanity: the
pursuit of prestige based on continuous, relentless exclusion of
those who 'are not like me'. The futile chasing of those five minutes
of fame which do not forgive the 'reputation' of others. 'Making
firewood from a felled tree' gradually gives way to the third
temptation, the worst. It is that of pride, or rather, putting
oneself on a higher level than one truly is on, feeling that one does
not share the life of 'mere mortals', and yet being one who prays
every day: 'I thank you Lord that you have not made me like those
others'.

These three temptations which the
Christian is faced with daily "seek to corrode, destroy and
extinguish the joy and freshness of the Gospel. Three temptations
which lock us into a cycle of destruction and sin".

"It is worth asking ourselves, to
what degree are we aware of these temptations in our lives, in our
very selves?", continued Francis. "How much have we become
accustomed to a lifestyle where we think that our source and life
force lies only in wealth? To what point do we feel that caring about
others, our concern and work for bread, for the good name and dignity
of others, are wellsprings of happiness and hope? We have chosen
Jesus, not the evil one. If we remember what we heard in the Gospel,
Jesus does not reply to the devil with any of His own words, but
rather He challenges him with the words of God, the words of
scripture. Because brothers and sisters, and let us be clear about
this, we cannot dialogue with the devil, we cannot do this because He
will always win. Only the power of Gods’ word can overcome him. We
have opted for Jesus and not for the devil; we want to follow in
Jesus’ footsteps, even though we know that this is not easy. We
know what it means to be seduced by money, fame and power. For this
reason, the Church gives us the gift of this Lenten season, invites
us to conversion, offering but one certainty: He is waiting for us
and wants to heal our hearts of all that tears us down. He is the God
Who has a name: Mercy. His name is our wealth, His name is what makes
us famous, His name is our power and in His name we say once more
with the Psalm: 'You are my God and in You I trust'. Will you repeat
it together? Three times: 'You are my God and in You I trust'".

After listening to the response of the
crowd, Francis concluded, "In this Eucharist, may the Holy
Spirit renew in us the certainty that His name is Mercy, and may He
let us experience each day that 'the Gospel fills the hearts and
lives of all who encounter Jesus...', knowing that 'with Christ and
in Christ joy is constantly born anew'”.

Vatican City, 14 February 2016 (VIS) –
Following Mass, the Pope invited those present to pray the Angelus
and to reflect, before the Marian prayer, on the first reading in
which Moses addresses his people during harvest time, a moment of
abundance, so they do not forget their origins and provenance, nor
the difficulties they have had to overcome.

"Thanksgiving is something which
is born and grows among a people capable of remembering",
explained the Holy Father. "It is rooted in the past, and
through good and bad times, it shapes the present. … On this
festive day we can celebrate how good the Lord has been to us. Let us
give thanks for this opportunity to be together, to present to our
Good Father the first fruits of our children, our grandchildren, of
our dreams and our plans; the first fruits of our cultures, our
languages and our traditions, the first fruits of our efforts".

"How much each one of you has
suffered to reach this moment!", he exclaimed. "How much
you have 'walked' to make this day a day of feasting, a time of
thanksgiving. How much others have walked, who have not arrived here
and yet because of them we have been able to keep going. Today, at
the invitation of Moses, as a people we want to remember, we want to
be the people that keeps alive the memory of God Who passes among His
People, in their midst. We look upon our children knowing that they
will inherit not only a land, a culture and a tradition, but also the
living fruits of faith which recalls the certainty of God’s passing
through this land. It is a certainty of his closeness and of his
solidarity, a certainty which helps us lift up our heads and ardently
hope for the dawn".

"I too join you in this
remembrance, in this living memory of God’s passing through your
lives. As I look upon your children I cannot but make my own the
words which Blessed Pope Paul VI addressed to the Mexican people: 'A
Christian cannot but show solidarity… to solve the situation of
those who have not yet received the bread of culture or the
opportunity of an honourable job… he cannot remain insensitive
while the new generations have not found the way to bring into
reality their legitimate aspirations'. And then Blessed Paul VI
continued offering this invitation to 'always be on the front line of
all efforts… to improve the situation of those who suffer need”,
to see in every man a brother and, in every brother Christ'".

Francis urged the Mexican people to "be
on the front line, to be first in all the initiatives which help make
this blessed land of Mexico a land of opportunities, where there will
be no need to emigrate in order to dream, no need to be exploited in
order to work, no need to make the despair and poverty of many the
opportunism of a few, a land that will not have to mourn men and
women, young people and children who are destroyed at the hands of
the dealers of death".

"This land is filled with the
perfume of la Guadalupana who has always gone before us in love",
concluded the bishop of Rome. "Let us say to her, with all our
hearts: Blessed Virgin, help us to bear radiant witness to communion,
service, ardent and generous faith, justice and love of the poor,
that the joy of the Gospel may reach to the ends of the earth,
illuminating even the fringes of our world".

Vatican City, 14 February 2016 (VIS) –
At 4.30 p.m. the Holy Father transferred by helicopter to Ecatepec
and from there to the "Marte" military camp to visit the
Federico Gomez Paediatric Hospital, which was also visited in 1979 by
St. John Paul II, and which assists around eight hundred children
each day.

The Pope met with the young patients of
the hospital and told them the story of when Jesus’ parents took
Him to the Temple to present Him to God. "And while there they
met an old man called Simeon who, upon seeing Jesus, was very moved
and filled with joy and gratitude. He took Jesus in his arms and held
him close, and began to bless the Lord. Looking at Jesus inspired him
in two ways: the feeling of gratitude and the desire to bless. Simeon
is the 'uncle' who teaches us these two attitudes: gratitude and then
blessing".

"For my part (and not only because
of my age), I feel I can relate well with these two lessons of
Simeon", he confessed. "On the one hand, entering here and
seeing your eyes, your smiles, your faces, has filled me with a
desire to give thanks. Thank you for the kind way that you welcomed
me, thank you for recognising the tenderness with which you are cared
for and accompanied. Thank you for the efforts of many who are doing
their best so that you can get better quickly. It is very important
that we feel cared for and accompanied, to feel loved and to know
that all these workers here are looking for the best way to care for
us. To each of these people, I say, 'Thank you'. And at the same
time, I wish to bless you. I ask God to bless you, and to accompany
you and your families, and all those people who work in this home and
try to ensure that your smiles grow day by day. May God bless each
person – not only doctors but also those who provide
'kindness-therapy' thus making the time spent here more enjoyable".

Francis went on to ask if they had
heard of the Indian Juan Diego, and explained that "When his
uncle was sick, he was quite worried and distressed. Then, the Virgin
of Guadalupe appeared to him and said, 'Let not your heart be
disturbed or upset by anything. Am I not here with you, I who am your
mother?'. We have Mary as our Mother, and so let us ask her to give
us the gift of her Son, Jesus. Let us close our eyes and ask her to
give us what our hearts seek today, and then let us pray together",
he said, before praying a Hail Mary with the children. He then toured
the playroom and chemotherapy department of the Haematology-Oncology
Unit, and paid a private visit to the ward to greet the young
inpatients.

Vatican City, 15 February 2016 (VIS) –
Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap., president of the Pontifical
Commission for the Protection of Minors, together with all the
Commission Members, issued today the following statement on the
obligation to report suspected sexual abuse to civil authorities:

“As Pope Francis has so clearly
stated: ‘The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must
not be kept secret for any longer. I pledge the zealous vigilance of
the Church to protect children and the promise of accountability for
all’. We, the President and the Members of the Commission, wish to
affirm that our obligations under civil law must certainly be
followed, but even beyond these civil requirements, we all have a
moral and ethical responsibility to report suspected abuse to the
civil authorities who are charged with protecting our society”.

Cardinal O’Malley’s statement
continued, “In the United States, our Bishops’ Charter clearly
states the obligation that all dioceses/eparchies and personnel
report suspected abuse to the public authorities. Every year at our
November meeting, at a training session for new bishops, this
obligation is reaffirmed, and every other February the Conference
runs a second training program for new bishops which also clearly and
explicitly includes this obligation. As the Holy Father’s advisory
commission for the protection of minors, we recently shared with Pope
Francis an overview of the Commission’s extensive education efforts
in local Churches over the past two years and reiterated the Members’
willingness to provide this material at courses offered in Rome,
including to the annual training program for new bishops and to the
offices of the Roman Curia for their use in their own child
protection efforts”.